Gilded Glory
by Eternal Nocturne
Summary: Zelda reflects on her memories and thoughts once Link had left her behind for his 'personal journey.' Heartbroken for seven years, her only dream would be to see him again once more... Oneshot, Link x Zelda.


_**A/N: Not my first try at FanFiction, just so you know. In this one, Zelda just kinda… reflects… on herself and whatnot. I guess that it came out pretty decently…**_

_**DISCLAIMER: "The Legend of Zelda" and all rights, including the copyrights of the games, scenario, music and program, reserved by Nintendo. TM and (r) are trademarks of Nintendo. All rights reserved.**_

_**--Gilded Glory--**_

**_--_**

_Sometimes I wish that destiny would shine down benevolently upon me, and that I would finally see his russet colored mare trampling gleefully down the hills that make up this glorious kingdom I call home._

_And then, as the sun would leisurely set below the shadowed line of the darkening horizon, the mare would stop in front of my pallid walls of concealment, and with it, he would finally come down from years of his secreting, breaking my chains of solemn wishing and riding me out into the field of gilded glory my heart had so often longed for…_

_And that is when I would truly start to live._

--

I had only been so young when my eyes first crossed his own.

He walked into my courtyard, having braved many hardships on his journey here, only to see me…

That dirty-blonde hair, those sparkling blue eyes… I didn't pay attention to anything else at that moment. I _couldn't _have paid attention to anything else.

And for those first few seconds, I had been speechless, yet he himself had been so oblivious to my thoughts of him. And at first, I had only believed that it had been a simple childhood crush… After all, my father had time and again forbid me to ever venture out of the castle, and I had thought that it had been typical for me to see love at first sight as he walked into my eyes.

So I had treated him just the same as anyone else.

Then again, I _would've _treated him just the same as anyone else were it not for the special task the Goddesses had burdened us both with together…

He was to find the three Spiritual Stones and place them in the legendary Temple of Time to retrieve the Master Sword from its pedestal…

Yet once he did, chaos reigned without any form of caveat.

Seven years.

The two words that had haunted my mind for eternity.

Seven years had he been locked up in that Realm…

Seven years had it been since I had seen him last that time…

Seven years it had taken me to finally realize my _true _love for him.

Yet once I had seen him once he had awakened from his slumber…

I could not show myself to him.

I had longed for endless nights and days that I could once again see him outside of my disguised form… He didn't recognize me. It had been a form of extreme magic, one that could change a person's identity almost completely…

He had never known that I had been watching him. Always. Through his endless trials with deadly fiends and continuous battles through monster-infested dungeons, I had always been there, watching him, waiting for the right moment to finally reveal myself to him and maybe weave his heart into mine…

But then, I was captured, and he was forced to fight what seemed to be an eternal battle with that Goddess-forsaken enemy.

Yet, he won.

Blood pouring from various gashes and wounds from him, and even with parts of his clothes torn, he still came out in victory.

And I was happy.

All the golden peace was to be returned into my land, to everything, and to everyone.

_Everyone._

Including him.

It had been my hardest moment, yet I had to do what was best for him…

We had been standing there, up above the clouds in what seemed to be a breathtaking dream…

Yet, even at that moment, I could not tell him.

I had to send him back. I had to send him home… Where he was supposed to be… The way that he was supposed to be…

"Give me the Ocarina."

I played the Lullaby that had brought back undying memories…

And time was reversed.

I had thought that I had solved everything.

I had sacrificed my love for his happiness…

Yet the first thing he had done when he came back was to see me.

Tears had swelled up in my eyes at that very moment. For a while, it had seemed that his heart and my own were connected; we could feel each other's emotions. I had been so blissful to see him again, since I had not known that if I had sent him back to his own time, I myself would, also…

But he looked at me with his sapphire-blue eyes in such a way that it had seemed like I could read his thoughts.

He was leaving.

_Leaving._

I was crestfallen. Heartbroken. My chance to admit my feelings to him were once again shattered. And to think, I had believed that he had felt the same way in his heart for me, as well.

His beloved horse was with him as I waved my final good-bye to him as he left for his contemporary journey to indefinite lands. I had given him the Ocarina as a secret memento of me… Of this kingdom.

I watched him go, and hoped in my heart that he would return… Someday.

But even now, my hopes were not fulfilled.

Every day I stare out my transom facing the everlasting grassland of splendor, hoping that he would return. I would pull up my favorite chair and just wait. I would watch the sunset over the horizon as nightfall began to shadow over light, twirling my russet-colored hair around in circles as tears swelled up in my eyes. Years had passed, yet the yearning in my soul would not depart my very being.

Some days, when I had the chance, I would stare out that window all day long. I would only stop when food had arrived at my door; I had known better than to leave myself starving.

Then, when night fell, I would dream in my bed about him.

His strong arms wrapped around my waist, holding me high into the air as we played around joyfully in the field. I would snuggle against his chest as he stroked my hair lovingly, both of us smiling as we had nothing else we had ever wanted to do. I could hear his heartbeat inside of him, bringing warmth to my own.

Every night I had dreamt about something like that… It was the closest thing I could have to him.

Until, one day…

A sweet tune rang over my delicate ears. I could hear it even inside of the castle walls; it had to be some kind of magic, since no one else could ever hear it…

It was my Lullaby.

And at that moment, I thought of nothing else but him. I trampled down on the rules my father had burdened me with; I shot out of the castle doors and into the town, where I entered the field.

And my eyes were teary with sparks of happiness.

I screamed with joy as I feel onto my knees. The lush grass loomed over my dress; my gloved hands touched the earth. I looked up, and I saw him there, looking down at me with those blue eyes of his, a smile etched onto his lips. His horse was beside him.

"Zelda."

"Link."

He took my hand, and we rode away on his horse out into the horizon, away from my pallid concealment forever.

It was at that very moment it had dawned upon me.

I was finally free to roam in the land that we, from this moment on, called gilded glory.

_Our _gilded glory.

--

_**--Eternal Nocturne--**_


End file.
